TASMANIA’S mental health system is under the microscope following a “murder suicide” in Launceston.

The Hobart Coroners Court has begun examining the adequacy of mental health services provided to the perpetrator John Evans in the lead-up to the incident.

Mr Evans and his wife Jillian Evans, both 62, were found dead in their Riverside home on September 2, 2013.

Mrs Evans had suffered “neck compression” and blunt force injuries to the head and her husband had taken his own life. A man believed to be Mr Evans had earlier rang police and said he had killed his wife.

Lead investigator First Class Constable Dean Rigby told Coroner Olivia McTaggart the deaths were deemed a “murder suicide”. Further investigations revealed that Mr Evans had ended up in the Launceston General Hospital, suffering an apparent psychotic episode, in July that year.

He was discharged from the hospital two days later and taken to Calvary St Luke’s Hospital.

Counsel assisting the Coroner, Mick Allen, said the inquest would examine why Mr Evans was discharged from the Launceston hospital before his mental state had been fully assessed and stabilised.

The hearing will further examine whether various health practitioners gave appropriate care to Mr Evans in the months leading up to the deaths.

He said he often consulted him about physical illnesses but that Mr Evans was unwilling to explore if there was any psychological aspects to his purported ailments.

Dr Scott said he had “refused” to see a psychiatrist or psychologist.

He agreed with a psychiatrist’s assessment, after Mr Evans’s hospitalisation, that he suffered from a “severe anxiety disorder with a brief psychotic event”. The inquest heard Mr Evans had previously seen a psychologist after the couple’s 16-year-old daughter Tina was killed in car crash in Launceston in 1989.

The hearing continues today and is expected to finish on Thursday.

If you are in crisis Lifeline offers 24-hour support on 13 11 14 or call Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.